The Lean Toolbox Sixth Edition: A Sourcebook for Process Improvement by John Bicheno and Matthias Holweg is out. Published by Picsie Books on the very first days of January 2023, the new book counts 360 pages compared to the 342 pages of the previous edition and weighs 617 grams (1.36 pounds), gaining a little muscle with the update.
The book is structured around 7 sections and 45 chapters, over quite everything Lean practitioners and Industrial Engineers may look for, with Lean at its core. After a very brief introduction, the book starts with Lean philosophy, Lean mindset, the science of Lean. It goes on with 6 sections “focusing” on flow:
- Organising for flow
- Creating flow
- Improving flow
- Designing for flow
- Motivating and measuring for flow
- Digital tools for flow
Each section has a variable number of chapters on various aspects of Lean in operations.
Yet the book is not solely about Lean, as the authors explain in the first chapter “how to use this book”, they have assembled tools, systems and principles they’ve found to be useful when applying Lean. Therefore it includes bits of Theory of Constraints, DDMRP (Demand Driven MRP), Scrum and Agile, and even the somewhat puzzling (in this context) OODA Loop, amongst others.
This is not a book that many will read from A to Z, but as its subtitle announces, use it as a sourcebook. For non-native English speakers like me, a sourcebook is “a collection of writings and articles on a particular subject, especially one used as a basic introduction to that subject” (says Google). And this is indeed what the Lean Toolbox is and what I like with it. From all the previous versions I’ve known, it was always great to read a refresher on this or that, and find additional sources and references for further reading.
As with the previous versions, this sixth edition is great value for money (at the moment of writing these lines, a paperback copy is USD22.99 on Amazon.com, €22.54 on Amazon.fr and... €28.59 on Amazon.de), with over 130,000 copies sold as credential for it.
Do I recommend it? Definitely!
| < Précédent | Suivant > |
|---|
